Apparatus for striping fabrics



Jan; 10, 1950 L. N. DEXTER APPARATUS FOR STRIPING FABRICS Filed Nov. 29,1946 Patented Jan. 10, 1950 APPARATUS FoR sm r'mo FABRICS LyallNetherton Dexter, Glen Iris, Victoria,

Australia Application November 29, 1946, Serial N 0. 712,927 InAustralia November 30, 1945 7 Claims. (c1 .'91-12) An object of theinvention is to provide. im

proved apparatus of the kind described whereby the fabric may besimultaneously coloured in stripes of different colours on one side ofthe fabric in a continuous operation. The fabric may be coloured on itsother side, either uniformly or in stripes, by a subsequent operation.

A more specific object is to provide means whereby the fabric may becolored in stripes of different colors in such a manner that a sharpclean dividing line is produced between adjacent stripes and thatuncolored areas or bands are not formed between adjacent stripes.

A further object is to provide means for producing an even coating ofcoloring material of suitable thickness on the fabric, while a stillfurther object is to provide means for drying the coating produced. 1

Apparatus for colouring fabrics aCCOICliIIgtO the invention comprisesmeans for moving a length of fabric longitudinally, a trough disposedtransversely of and above the fabric, front and rear walls on thetrough, partitions extending between the front and rear walls of thetrough and parallel to the direction of travel of the fabric, a seriesof open-bottomed cells formed in the trough by the partitions and whichare adapted to contain liquid coloring materials, the lower edges of thepartitions being curved longitudinally so that the highest portions ofthe curve are adjacent to the front and rear walls, the front portionsof the lower edges of the par- .titions being tapered towards the frontwall to form sharp apices at said front wall, and the lower portion ofthe front wall being tapered downwardly towards its lower edge to form asharp 5 lower edge meeting the sharp apices of the lower edges of thepartitions, a flexible band extendingbeneath the fabric as it passesbeneath the trough, means for tensioning the flexible band in order tomaintain the fabric in pressure trough, means for maintaining the fabricin pressure contact with the loweredges of the front and rear walls andwith the curved lower edges of the partitions, and means for supplyingliquid colouring materials to the cells.

5 An important feature of the invention resides in tapering the frontportions of the: lower edges of thepartitions to form apices at thefrontwall of the trough. By means of this construction! Per ew. it Possibleto l l l erf eqegelil uncolored areas between adjacent colored stripes,and to produce a clean sharp junction line between said stripes withoutblurring or merging of the colors.

According to another feature of the invention the bottom edge of eachpartition is curved longitudinally with the highest portions of thecurve at the entrance and exit ends of the cells. This insures that thepressure contact between the fabric and the lower edges of thepartitions, which is maintained as hereinafter described, issubstantially uniform, a condition which is essential for satisfactoryoperation.

According to still another feature the fabric is held closely againstand in pressure contact with the lower edges of the partitions and wallsby an underlying band of fabric which passes over a pair of rollers, oneon the entrance side and the other on the exit side of the cells, thisunderlying band being held taut by weighting one of its ends andsecuring the other end in position.

' A cloth reservoir is provided from which the cloth or fabric is fed tothe machine. The cloth is fed to the cloth reservoir intermittently andat a greater speed than that at which it is withdrawn. This providestime at the completion of; the unrolling of a r011 of fabric for the endof a roll to be sewn to the end of a subsequent roll, so that the lengthof cloth passing through the machin is continuous.

After the cloth leaves the cloth reservoir it passes over various idlerrollers and through an automatic guider, and it then passes under thecolour cells abovementioned. The colour cells are fed with colourgravitationally, an automatic fCllt-Off'0f the feed of each colour beingprovided. After the fabric has been coloured by passing it beneath thecolour cells, it is drawn through ha-suitable hot air drier. Theconditions in the --drier and the duration of the drying treatment ;a re-sucl 1 that when thefabric leaves the drier.

the colours are completelydry; The reverse side of the fabric may becoloured uniformly, or striped by passingthe fabric again through themach-iner er i qt i inv n;

Figure 2 isa view in sectional-end elevationoj f colour cell showing thefabric passing there- Figure 3 is a plan view of the colour cells andfabric passing thereunder,

Figure 4 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the colour cells,

Figure 5 is a View in sectional elevation of a 5 colour cell showingmechanism for regulating the supply of colouring material to the cell,and

Figure 6 is a view in section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings, wherein the same reference numerals areemployed to designate like or corresponding parts, the referencenumeralI8 indicates a fabric reservoir to which canvas or other fabric H issupplied by means notshown and from which the fabric Il may be withdrawnis" continuously. The fabric H-ipasses over anvidler roller l2, throughan automatic guider-oraligning mechanism 13, over idler rollers l4, 05,over a brush 16, over an idler roller l1, and then be-' neath acolouring trough l8. The brush (6 smoothes out the fabric and removesloose threads and other pieces of foreign material.

Paint, lacquer or other colouring material l8a is suppliedgravitationally to the -cells"of the trough I8 through pipes I 9 fromcontainers 20. Valves 2| are provided in the pipes 19 toregulate thequantity of colouring material supplied.

- After passing beneath the trough 18, the fabric "1 l passes upwardsand over an idler roller 22 and then passes horizontally through a drier23. Air at a suitable temperature enters the drier 23 through inlet pipe24 and is passed through the drier in contact with the fabric. Thetemperature and rate of flow of the air, and the duration "of treatmentof the fabric in the drier, are such -3 that the colours on the fabricsare completely dry when the fabric leaves the drier. The fabric thenpasses over an idler roller 25 and is wound on roller 2 6.

The colouring trough It comprises a rear Wall 21 and a front wall 28extending the full length of the trough and sloping downwardly andforwardly in the direction of travel of the fabric I l.

A bottom member 29 is secured to thelow'er edge of the'rear wall 21 andcovers the'rear portion" f5 of the bottom of the trough.

The trough I8 is divided into colour cells 30 by partitions 3! which fitinto recesses in the rear wall '21 and bottom member 29 and are securedto the rear face of the front wall 28. The-number, 5o arrangement andwidths of the colourcells 30- are such as to provide on the fabric llthe required pattern of stripes.

In each cell or compartment 30 a space 32 is formed between thefront'edge'of the bottom member 29 and the loweredge of the front wall28. The lower or bottom edge of the front wall 28 is tapered or shapedto a sharp edge 33; The lower edge 34 and the frontedge 35 of eachpartition 3! are tapered at their forward and lower '60 ends,respectively, to form asharp pointor apex 36 at the forward or exit endof the cel1s-30,-which point or apex 36 meets thesharp lower edge iiilof the front wall 28.

The lower edges 34' of the partitions 3i and the lower surface of thebottom member 29 are curved longitudinally, that is, in the directionof: travel of the fabric II, and the highest portionsof the curve are-atthe front and rear ends -o1 the said lower edges 34.

i The fabric II is passedbeneath the trough l8 as shown in Figure 2 inthe directioniof ithearrow shownln this figure and ismaintainedinpressure contact with the undersurface 'of the bottom member 29 and withthe lower edges of the partitions 3| and front wall 28 by a band 31 offabric or other flexible material lying beneath the fabric H. One end ofthe band 3! is secured to a rod or bar 38 and the other end passes overa roller 39 and is attached to a weight or weights 40. A strip or pad 4|of sponge rubber or like resilient material may be inserted between theupper andlowerlayers of the band 31 beneath the trough I 8.

The weighted flexible band 3'! holds the fabric H firmly against thelower edges of the walls 21,

28, and the lower edges 34 of the partitions 3|, irrespective of anyslight variations or inequalities' in the fabric.

- The paint, lacquer or other colouring material l8a'is applied to theupper surface of the fabric II as it passes beneath the open lower endsof the cells 38. The fabric H engages the lower edge 33 of the frontwall 28 with such pressure that the required quantity of colouringmaterial is left on the fabric leaving the trough l8.

' The tapering of the lower edge 34 of each par tion' 3| towards theexit ends of the cells 30 ensures that the fabric H is coloured instripes" with exactitude, so that the differently coloured stripes donot smear at their junctions and do not leave any appreciable gaps ofuncoloured mate rial in those positions. The exactitude of the meetingof the adjacent stripes withoutgaps and without overlapping dependsmainly on the accuracy of construction of the partitions.

The colouring material 18a is supplied to the cells'30 through the pipesit! as previously stated, and'these pipes may be arranged as" shown inFigure 4 to supply the same colouring material to a series of cells. Afeed trough 44 containing colouring material may be provided on thefront of. the trough l8, and holes 45 are formedin the front wall 28between the trough 44 and certain of the cells 30. This arrangement isparticularly suitablefor'supplying colouring material to narrow cells30, which are otherwise difiicult to sup ply.

In Figures 5 and 6 a device for automatically regulating the supply ofcolouring material I80, to the cells 30 is illustrated. The supply pipel3is attached to a nipple 38 formed on the upper end of a valve body 41which is bolted to the rear wall 2130f the trough l8. A delivery passageis formed in the valve body 4! and terminates in a valve seat 48. A ballvalve 49 is adapted to be moved upwardly against the valve seat 48 by anarmor lever 50 pivoted to the valve body 4'5 and having a float 5|connected to its free end.

Outlet passages 52 for the colouring material .are provided: in eachside of the valve body 41'.

Byumeans of this float controlled valve a substantially uniform quantityof colouring material may be maintained in the cell 353.

This machine is remarkably efficient, not only in theaccuracy with whichthe stripes of different colours are marked upon the'frabric, but alsoon account of its remarkable speed. With one of these machines severalthousand yards'of" fabric maybe coloured in a day.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for coloring fabrics which comprises means for moving alength of fabric longitudinally, a trough disposed transversely of andabove the fabric, front and rear walls on the tr u a ns it i i v be eenthe from d re -Wa t e t e c a d pa a le -t tes direction of travel ofthe fabric, a serieslof openbottomed cells formed in the trough by thepartitions and which are adapted to contain liquid coloring materials,the lower edges of the partitions being curved longitudinally so thatthe highest portions of the curve are adjacent to the front and rearwalls, the front portions of the lower edges of the partitions beingtapered towards the front wall to form sharp apices at said front wall,and the lower portion of the front Wall being tapered downwardly towardsits lower edge to form a sharp lower edge meeting the sharp apices ofthe lower edges of the partitions, a flexible band extending beneath thefabric as it passes beneath the trough, means for tensioning theflexible band in order to maintain the fabric in pressure contact withthe lower edges of the front and rear walls and with the curved loweredges of the partitions, and means for supplying liquid coloringmaterials to the cells.

'2. Apparatus according to claim 1 and having a bottom member whichcloses the rear portion of the bottom of each cell, an opening beingformed between the front edge of the bottom member and the ront wall ofthe trough.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 and having a feed trough secured tothe front wall of the trough, said feed trough being adapted to hold asupply of liquid coloring material, said front wall being provided withholes through which the coloring material is admitted to certain of thecells.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 and having pipes through which thecolouring materials are supplied to the cells, valves connected to saidpipes for regulating the admission of colouring materials to the cells,and floats mounted in the cells and connected to the valves so as toautomatically maintain uniform quantities of colouring materials in thecells.

5. Apparatus for coloring fabrics which comprises means for moving alength of fabric longitudinally, a trough disposed transversely of andabove the fabric, front and rear walls on the trough, partitionsextending between the front and rear walls of the trough and parallel tothe direction of travel of the fabric, a series of openbottomed cellsformed in the trough by partitions and which are adapted to containliquid coloring materials, the lower edges of the partitions beingcurved longitudinally so that the highest portions of the curve areadjacent to the front and rear walls, the front portions of the loweredges of the partitions being tapered towards the front wall to formsharp apicesat said front wall and the lower portions of the front edgesof the partitions being tapered downwardly to said apices and the lowerportion of the front wall being tapered downwardly towards its loweredge to form a sharp lower edge meeting the sharp apices of the loweredges of the partitions, a flexible band extending beneath the fabric asit passes beneath the trough, means for tensioning the flexible band inorder to maintain the fabric in pressure contact with the lower edges ofthe front and rear walls and of the partitions, means for supplyingliquid coloring materials to the cells, a drier, means for passing hotair through the drier and in contact with fabric passing therethrough,and means for passing the fabric continuously beneath the trough andthen through the drier.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the flexible band is securedat one end and is weighted at the other end.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a resilient pad isincorporated in the flexible band beneath the trough.

LYALL NETHERTON DEXTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 397,091 Mortimer Jan. 29, 18891,422,545 Dayton July 11, 1922 1,929,127 Turner Oct. 3, 1933

